DENNISVILLE –– Officials here are looking to local residents, visitors and business owners for help in determining the future of Dennis Township.

The township’s Master Plan Committee will be seeking comment from local stakeholders on proposed changes to the municipal master plan at two upcoming public-input hearings on April 28 and May 12.

A municipal master plan is a blueprint for a community’s future that identifies areas for commercial and housing growth and development as well as areas for historical and open space conservation.

The main topic of discussion at the first meeting will be the proposed Village Centers of South Seaville, Dennisville and South Dennis, while the second meeting will focus on the Town Centers of Ocean View and Clermont along the Route 9 corridor. Future growth in the township would be directed to these five centers to prevent sprawl.

The state defines Village Centers as primarily residential places that offer a small core with limited public facilities, consumer services and community activities. Town Centers, however, are the more densely developed centers of commerce with diverse residential neighborhoods served by a mixed-use core offering locally oriented goods and services.

At an April 9 committee meeting, members noted that public input into the planning process would be important to identify the community’s shared values and implement them into the township’s development goals. To that end, the committee plans to distribute questionnaires to attendees at the public-input hearings and use responses they receive.

Some things discussed April 9 included:

• Accepted land uses within the centers including mixed uses with commercial on the first floor with residential or office units above.

• Granting incentives for the transfer of development rights from the environs into the centers to preserve open space, as well as ongoing talks with New Jersey American Water to provide service to the designated centers.

The committee meets regularly in an ongoing process to fine-tune the municipal plan and ready it for endorsement, which would ensure its consistency with the county, region and state plans. The group’s next meeting is scheduled for May 15.

The Dennis Township Planning Board is also involved in the plan endorsement process. The board will discuss the committee’s recent suggestions at its April 24 meeting.

According to the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Office of Smart Growth, the agency that administers plan endorsement process, the program encourages cooperative regional planning by entitling those municipalities with endorsed plans to a higher priority for available funding, streamlined permit reviews and coordinated state agency services.

The township is working with a professional planner, Marcia Shiffman, of Maser Consulting. Shiffman also works with neighboring communities, Middle and Upper townships, on their master plans.

Her work in Upper Township led to that municipality being the first in the county to receive its plan endorsement on Feb. 21.

Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com